Land vehicles use two types of transmission systems, a manual transmission and an automatic transmission. When operating a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission, a driver is required to manually change the gears in the transmission by disengaging a clutch, moving a shift to change the gears in the transmission, and then re-engaging the clutch thereby providing power to the drive train. This combination of movements can be very difficult for the unskilled driver.
The actions described in the preceding paragraph become particularly troublesome when the vehicle is stopped, facing uphill on an incline. Initiating forward motion from such a position requires the driver to release the brake with their right foot, move their right foot to the accelerator pedal and advance the throttle while simultaneously releasing the clutch pedal slowly with the left foot. These actions must be perfectly executed by the driver. The potential consequences of a mistake include, for example, stalling the vehicle. The vehicle may stall in traffic or roll backwards into another vehicle.
For these reasons many drivers choose to use vehicles with automatic transmissions, the operation of which does not require the carefully timed actions referred to above. However, manual transmissions offer advantages that when compared to automatic transmissions, these advantages included a lower manufacturing cost and therefore a lower retail cost to the driver, increased fuel efficiency, and enhanced vehicle performance. For these reasons, many drivers continue to prefer manual transmissions over automatic transmissions.
An improved manual transmission system which simplifies the operations referred to above would represent an advance in the art which would enable less skilled drivers to safely operate a vehicle so equipped.
The present invention relates, in one aspect, to a computer-implemented method for initiating forward motion in a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission. The computer-implemented method includes a number of components including:
a) a sensor for determining clutch status;
b) a sensor for determining when the transmission of the vehicle is in first gear;
c) a throttle actuator calibrated to raise engine revolutions per minute from idle to a predetermined elevated level upon receipt of a throttle-up signal; and
d) a control unit to receive inputs from the sensors of steps a) and b), said control unit being programmed to deliver the throttle-up signal to the throttle actuator when the sensor of step a) indicates that a change in clutch status from engaged to non-engaged, and the sensor of step b) indicates that the vehicle is in first gear.